Star Wars Episode IX: Force Link ✔️ (Editing)

5| Torn Apart

Rey sat alone and thought quietly to herself. All hope seemed lost. The Resistance had nearly been wiped out. Their numbers had decreased so much that they could all fit aboard the Millennium Falcon. Being on the Falcon made her think of Han and how much she missed him. Luke Skywalker had been her last hope, but now he was gone. Yet, somehow Rey could still feel him near her. It was the Force, she knew.

Rey pulled out the broken lightsaber from where it was kept and looked at it again for possibly tenth time since it had been broken. She didn't know why she kept looking at it. Maybe it was because she felt like her heart was just as broken. First she had lost Han Solo, who had been the closest thing she had ever had to a father. Then just as she had begun to hope she could bring Ben back, but she had lost him to the Dark Side, to Kylo Ren. She had lost all hope of finding her parents, she had faced the truth about them. They were gone and would never come back. Now she had lost Luke and most of the Resistance.

And now she had this strange nightmare on her mind.

She knew Luke and Han wouldn't want her to give up hope, but it seemed like every time she got close to something, it was taken from her. She was becoming afraid of getting attached, but at the same time, she longed for attachment.

Suddenly she felt something in the Force. Something... familiar.

"I know how that lightsaber must feel," said a deep voice.

Rey looked up to see Kylo Ren standing in front of her. Part of her was angry with him for not coming with her to save the Resistance. But she also felt guilty, she felt like she should have done more to help him. And now she was troubled by the nightmare that they had both had.

"I know how it feels to be torn apart," he continued.

She was surprised, was he admitting that he was still being torn apart between the Light and Dark Sides of the Force? She thought he had finally given in fully to the Dark Side. Maybe there was still hope for him after all. "So do I," she answered, her voice was filled with a deep pain that Ben understood all to well. He stared at her for a moment.

"You said that you dreamt that you killed me?" Rey asked.

Kylo nodded solemnly.

"Why did killing me cause you such fear?" she asked. "...Why were you so worried about me?" 

He looked down, he didn't want to answer her question. So he changed the subject, asking a question that had been on his mind. "When I went into the Resistance base, I saw you. Why did you shut me out?" he asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears and his voice breaking. He had killed Snoke to save her, then he had offered her the galaxy and she left him. Then when he saw her, she closed the door in his face.

Rey was a little upset that he hadn't answered her question, but she was more disappointed than upset. Seeing the hidden tears in his eyes, she realized that she had hurt him, and that he needed his question to be answered just as much as she needed her's to be, perhaps more. "You're going down a path that I can't follow, Ben," she answered in a kind, soft voice.

Kylo tried to mask his emotions, to seem like the tough, cruel Sith he was trying to be. He pulled himself up to his full height and looked down at her. "That is my old name, I can see you're still holding on to the past," he said, even though he didn't know why, but he didn't mind Rey calling him Ben. But he was trying to hide his weakness, both from himself and Rey. "Ben Solo is dead."

Rey's eyes widened as he spoke the words. Without realizing it, he had just repeated what he had said in the nightmare. As Rey's eyes filled with fear, and she began to back away from him. He realized his mistake, and felt the burden of guilt. He knew the fear his words would bring, what she would think he was about to do.